Gundog Puppy Class

Service Description

Have a spaniel puppy that won’t stop hunting? A labrador who keeps carrying your socks everywhere? A Vizsla that can’t sit still? We can help you develop those breed traits in a positive way, whether you intend to work your dog or just have fun with them! The popularity of labradors, cocker spaniels, springer spaniels, cockerpoos and labradoodles means that many homes have puppies genetically bred to “do a job”. Many behavioural issues that can occur later can be avoided by putting in place breed-specific training from the start. Bringing your puppy to a gundog puppy class means we understand your dog’s breed-specific desires and work with that to help you understand their motivators and develop that all-important bond. Each class is limited to a maximum of five puppies so that each puppy and owner get quality time and attention. Our puppy course is a 6 week course that repeats itself, teaching core skills with variations depending on the puppies breed, age and current level. You buy six sessions and then book the individual sessions you wish to attend. This means if you aren’t available to make a session, you don't lose out. In our sessions we focus on key aspects of learning such as: Engagement - the key to a great relationship is games and activities that build your bond, through fun engagement and putting yourself as a focus of fun for your puppy. Environment - understanding how your puppy interacts with the world is key to understand how you can make it work for you, not against you! This is especially important for our gundog breeds that have a strong prey drive, desire to hunt and desire to retrieve. Recall - A solid recall is vital for all dogs, and is really a skill to start on as early as possible, to build up that muscle memory of returning to you without even thinking about it. Leave it until your gundog is a teenager and you will find it a lot harder! Heelwork - this, alongside recall, is the hardest training to get right, partly because our dogs have a genetic desire to be focused on the environment (we have bred them to keep an eye on things falling, things moving, where the good smells are, right?), and partly because- let’s face it- it is quite dull! In our puppy training we focus on making this a fun training activity, and develop consistency to avoid those pulling teenage and adult dogs. ​